Hardware is an 80's/90's sci-fi classic. That it isn't better known, talked about and referenced more often, held up as one of the great sci- fi films of its time, is a terrible shame; a terrible shame, but, as some of the other reviews and board messages attest, not entirely a mystery.
Hardware is, for want of a better word, 'artsy'. This alone (regardless of how vague and amorphous a term it is) will scare off many. It is of its era and chooses to explore the cyber-punk/industrial aesthetic to the utmost. This will also polarize. Some here speak of a lack of character development. Perhaps. But in place of that, we get a kickass movie with a beautiful look, a wonderfully grimy feel, and an extremely effective sound(track) (among other things). Lack of character development matters when it matters but when there are other elements at play, doesn't need to be the be all and end all of a film's effectiveness. Those who cling to 'the rules' of movie-making (and who aren't film-makers themselves) have sucked too long at the teat of Mickey Mouse film studies courses and their pompously self-assured pseudo-intellectual creators. Sometimes we should just let a film and its maker 'be' what/who they are, without having to super-impose the rules and regulations we've received from elsewhere.
All that being said, here's why I think Hardware is a great film: it looks beautiful--in this regard, it doesn't hide its dues to Blade Runner; but if you wish to follow the lead of the greats, Blade Runner is a supreme model; I have no trouble with such a homage (copy). It delivers gore aplenty--as such, its a sci-fi/horror rather than straight sci-fi; horror fans should rejoice. The special effects are very good-- the director knows his limitations; he shows just about as much as he can without pushing it; the drab junk-techno design choice helps enormously in this regard. It's well-paced--everyone will disagree with me here; it lays down the beginnings of its minimal plot and sets out to share its aesthetic; it does this, I believe, at just the right pace; halfway through the film, when the mayhem begins, we've had the right amount of time to enjoy the dusty red wash, the archaic/high-tech computer consoles and their LED dials, the orange post-apocalyptic skyline, the detritus of a self-destructed society: all the elements from which the Mark 13 will reassemble itself and wreak its inevitable havoc.
At least, that's how I viewed it and how I managed to enjoy it and be greatly impressed by it.
If anything you might describe as being 'artsy' is a turn-off for you, don't watch it. If lengthy elaborations of characters and their motivations and relationships and inner turmoils etc. (prior to their being gotten at by a rogue drone killing machine) are resoundingly a MUST for you, don't watch it.
Hardware is, for want of a better word, 'artsy'. This alone (regardless of how vague and amorphous a term it is) will scare off many. It is of its era and chooses to explore the cyber-punk/industrial aesthetic to the utmost. This will also polarize. Some here speak of a lack of character development. Perhaps. But in place of that, we get a kickass movie with a beautiful look, a wonderfully grimy feel, and an extremely effective sound(track) (among other things). Lack of character development matters when it matters but when there are other elements at play, doesn't need to be the be all and end all of a film's effectiveness. Those who cling to 'the rules' of movie-making (and who aren't film-makers themselves) have sucked too long at the teat of Mickey Mouse film studies courses and their pompously self-assured pseudo-intellectual creators. Sometimes we should just let a film and its maker 'be' what/who they are, without having to super-impose the rules and regulations we've received from elsewhere.
All that being said, here's why I think Hardware is a great film: it looks beautiful--in this regard, it doesn't hide its dues to Blade Runner; but if you wish to follow the lead of the greats, Blade Runner is a supreme model; I have no trouble with such a homage (copy). It delivers gore aplenty--as such, its a sci-fi/horror rather than straight sci-fi; horror fans should rejoice. The special effects are very good-- the director knows his limitations; he shows just about as much as he can without pushing it; the drab junk-techno design choice helps enormously in this regard. It's well-paced--everyone will disagree with me here; it lays down the beginnings of its minimal plot and sets out to share its aesthetic; it does this, I believe, at just the right pace; halfway through the film, when the mayhem begins, we've had the right amount of time to enjoy the dusty red wash, the archaic/high-tech computer consoles and their LED dials, the orange post-apocalyptic skyline, the detritus of a self-destructed society: all the elements from which the Mark 13 will reassemble itself and wreak its inevitable havoc.
At least, that's how I viewed it and how I managed to enjoy it and be greatly impressed by it.
If anything you might describe as being 'artsy' is a turn-off for you, don't watch it. If lengthy elaborations of characters and their motivations and relationships and inner turmoils etc. (prior to their being gotten at by a rogue drone killing machine) are resoundingly a MUST for you, don't watch it.